Clinical Cases / Clinician

Long-standing ear disease Clinician

Vignette

A 58-year-old with a history of chronic ear infections and previous ear surgery reports long-standing hearing loss. Otoscopy shows a healed perforation and scarring.

-100204060801001202505001k2k4k8kFrequency (Hz)Hearing level (dB HL)
  • O Right ear, air
  • X Left ear, air
  • < Right ear, bone
  • > Left ear, bone

Signature: Both an air–bone gap and a sensorineural component — abnormal bone conduction with an additional conductive overlay.

Figure 1. The audiogram. Bone conduction is itself abnormal, and there is an additional air–bone gap.

Question

How is this audiogram best classified?

References

  1. [6] Pelosi S, Carlson ML, et al. (2023). Audiology pure tone evaluation.